Whitstable Fare Increases 'unjustified' (Canterbury & Whitstable Liberal Democrats)

Canterbury & Whitstable Liberal Democrats <info@cantlibdem.org.uk>

Whitstable Fare Increases 'unjustified'

January 5, 2009 12:11 PM

Local Liberal Democrats have criticised the latest above inflation hike in train fares as unjustified. Commuters who travel from Whitstable into London are facing an 8% increase in the cost of their journey into work. This figure is 3% above the inflation figure used to calculate the permitted maximum increase (the inflation figure from July 2008, which has now dropped). It is also 2% above the average increase in costs applied to commuter fares across the rest of the country. This is despite the fact travellers from Whitstable will see little benefit from the new high speed link.

Guy Voizey, parliamentary spokesman for Canterbury and Whitstable Liberal Democrats, said, "The Government has allowed train companies to increase the cost of fares in Kent by an additional 2% to contribute to the cost of the new high speed rail link due to come into service later this year. Yet commuters from Whitstable are being asked to subsidise a service they will get no benefit from. Commuters in other parts of the country are not being asked to subsidise a rail link they won't use, so commuters from Whitstable should not be penalised either."

It also appears South Eastern Trains are using misleading information to justify their fare increase. Mr Voizey said, "A poster outside Whitstable station suggests commuters from the town will benefit from a reduction in travel times of 25 minutes from 101 minutes (average peak time) to 76 minutes (fastest journey time) once the high speed rail link is used. In truth, the average peak time journey today is about 84 minutes (average into Cannon Street), a mere 8 minutes slower than the anticipated fastest journey time with the new high speed link."